If you've just dropped by or random'ed into me, please leave a comment and say hello.

Let me know how you found me, where you're from, why you're here, a little about yourself, recommend a book, recommend a movie, tell me a secret, tell me something, ask me a question, etc. =)

Ad Astra,

The Bride of the First House.
bride (at) livejournal (dot) com

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weather	:		raining
outside	:		8.5°C
mood	:		...

I've never had jet-lag this bananas before. I was nearly dying at Work today... to the amusement of cow-orkers. =} It was especially bad at around 2:00pm or so, wherein my body was convinced that it was 5:00am and I hadn't slept all night.

I thought I might go to Yoga this evening and brutalize myself further so that I'd sleep better... but I wasn't that psycho. I did manage to stay awake and not nap this evening. I'm about to head off to bed for the night.

If I can't sleep tonight, I'm dragging my sorry ass off to Yoga tomorrow. =P

Posted by msg'ing frank over LJTalk.

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		11.6°C
mood	:		awake

I'm wide awake at this God-forsaken hour... =P

When we go out with family here, we're invariably translating things for our parents: questions and answers from venue service staff, menu items, signs and directions and stuff. This has become inveterate and I, apparently, can't turn it off.

While Dad and I were in Hong Kong, I was speaking English to the customer service folks and translated what they said into Cantonese. Yeah, HELLO. They speak CANTONESE in Hong Kong!! XD They'd pick up on it and start speaking Cantonese to us... probably thinking I'm some kind of nutcase. They'd be absolutely right... but that's not the point here. =\

For my own reference, this is how to get to Shun-De. Shun-De is a more rural industrial area. If I'm not going to be staying in Guangzhou, it's best not to make anyone drive out to Guangzhou to pick me up.

Have I explained the concept of "traffic" in China? It ALWAYS looks like rush hour there. And their rush hour looks like a national evacuation, something like that scene where everyone's trying to get out of Washington, DC in Independence Day, only 100 times worse. Traffic light rules: Green means "Go"; Red means "Just don't hit anybody"; nobody knows what the Yellow is for anyway, so it defaults to "Just go".

So, assuming I'm staying the night in Hong Kong:

1. take a transpacific flight into Hong Kong.
2. take the Airport Express 機場快線 to Kowloon station.
3. grab a taxi to the hotel (the Kowloon Hotel makes the most sense logistically, but any hotel in that area will be about HKD 30.00 or less for a taxi ride).
4. take the 飛翼船 hydrofoil ferry from Kowloon port to 南沙 Nan-Sha port.
5. take the free shuttle bus service to the 龍江 ticket office.
6. call the family for a ride from the Long-Jiang ticket office.

And the same thing in reverse on the way out.

Oh, and because Hong Kong has been filling in the South China Sea/Pearl River Delta to create more real estate(!!), it's affected the tides in the area. The water gets pretty rough where it meets the land.

DO NOT try to fill in your customs and immigration form near the Hong Kong side of the hydrofoil ride. I made that mistake on the way back. I had an "oh-shit" moment as we were pulling into HK and started filling in my form. It's better to wait until you're off the ferry first.

In Hong Kong, they drive on the left. This means when you're crossing the street, look RIGHT first. =P

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		11.6°C
mood	:		tired

To Demonstrate the Evolution of Spoon from Hand 2003 by Anne Wan 尹麗娟

Try this link if the one above doesn't work for you...

I saw this piece at the Hong Kong CLK airport in the departure hall by Gate 35. It's done in slip-cast porcelain and was one of many sculptures on display in large glass cases. Some of the others were hers as well and some of the others were by other artists.

This sculpture really struck a chord with me. It was much more expressive to me than the placard description.

In my mind, the Spoon From Hand symbolizes Give and Take. You take with hands; you give with spoons. Certainly, you can also give with hands and you can also take with spoons as well. It isn't clear which is doing what. And the pieces in the middle are some blend of the two.

In taking, we also give. In giving, we also take.

Neither exists without the other. They are intricately related. There isn't a clean cut distinction between the two. It isn't always clear, they're never pure actions in and of themselves.

To me, the sculpture speaks to the nature of our relationships whether it's with family, other people, our environment or even ourselves. Relationships are a two way street, requiring give and take from all parties. This is perhaps why there are two sets.

But, of course, I've been known to completely miss the point in artwork before.

weather	:		partly cloudy
outside	:		6.1°C
mood	:		...

Holy doodles. So glad to be home. I have so much to say, so many stories to tell...

Cousins' weddings are about the only reason that I go travelling anymore. =D I love it though, I always come back with such an optimistic outlook on life having seen family and met new family who are invariably from somewhere else.

This trip took me back to my ancestral hometown of 順德 Shun-De. I wasn't born there; I was born in 廣州 Guangzhou (which you may know better as Canton). But I have family there and, for all the drama, comedy and tragedy, this is what makes it "home".

I'm confused as to whether Shun-De is a city or a district of 佛山 Fo-Shan and how it's related to 樂從 Le-Cong. The mailing address that I got for my Uncle's house is different than the one they gave me last time. =P

The bridegroom is my father's cousin's son. That makes us Second Cousins. But in traditional Chinese culture, if your fathers are brothers, then you're a closer type of cousin. This type of cousin is considered a straight sibling: 堂兄弟姐妹.

Because confusing foreigners is a favorite Chinese pastime. We do this more than mah-jong, tai chi, ping-pong and Go put together. =)

My Paternal Grandfather is my Great-Grandfather's second son. Albert's Paternal Grandfather is my Great-Grandfather's fourth son. The Shanghai Clan is my Great-Grandfather's fifth son's family line. My father and my 國叔叔 Uncle Guo are brothers. And that makes me Albert's sister. Albert's children and my children will be 姑表 cousins. Albert's sister Fong-Yi is also married and has a family of her own. She calls me 家姐 "elder sister". Her children and my children will be 姨表 cousins.

To recap:

• If you're cousins and related by your two fathers, you're 堂 cousins, which are almost straight siblings.
• If you're cousins and related by the father of one and the mother of another, then you're 姑表 cousins.
• If you're cousins and related by your two mothers, you're 姨表 cousins.

There will be a test.

The new In-Law family is from 杭州 Hangzhou. They're pretty amazing people and complement our family very well. My new Sister-In-Law, Joanna (Fiona? I don't refer to her by her English name and she doesn't really use it, so I'm not sure)... she is such a girlie girl =D Really pretty girl, so much fun and totally has a "northern Chinese" face =)

The wedding was CRAZY. 126 tables total. And these are 12 seat tables. 1512 guests. One thousand, five hundred twelve. =O =O =O Now THAT was an exercise in crowd control. And yes, true to form, Dad and I made a speech in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. The bride's family speaks Mandarin and our family speaks Cantonese... our family also speaks craptacular Mandarin XD We had to translate stuff and squeeze in a bit of English at the end. It was a good speech, we got so many good comments about it. It was very compact and to-the-point, very powerful sentiments and we translated so we wouldn't leave anyone out.

Speaking of craptacular Mandarin, my Uncle Guo's name has the character 國 in it. Mandarin is 國語. He was joking that because he is 啊國, his pronunciations (however he mangles it) are always accurate 國語 ("Guo's Language").

Yeah, the supreme dorkiness runs in the family XD

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		10.9°C
mood	:		...

I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised anymore at the amount of stuff I do when I have to write things out to hand off to co-workers just before I leave on holidays. =)

All packed. Checked-in and got our boarding passes already, even. =)

Two carry-ons, no checked luggage. Huzzah for Web Check-In! Huzzah for packing light. =D

Dad lent me his tote bag. Good gracious, does it ever have a monstrous amount of space! It looks like a little bag, but when you unzip the top, there's a staircase that leads down into a warehouse the size of Costco. Okay, it's not that big, but it looks deceptively small.

From the Air Canada website:

Effective September 26, passengers are permitted to bring in their carry-on luggage limited quantities of liquids, gels and aerosols in containers 90 ml/90g (3 oz) or less. These items must be placed in one clear, closed and re-sealable plastic bag no larger than one litre (one quart). There is a limit of one bag per person, which must be removed from carry-on luggage and placed separately in a screening bin at airport security.

*shrug* I would have had all my stuff in a large ziplock bag anyway in case of leakage. All my little bottles and tubs are travel size things and are under 90mL.

We're going on Air Canada, so Airbus 343s. They don't have in-flight wireless anyway, so I'm not going to bother with my laptop. I'll probably just let a web café find me and see if I feel like logging in. The only thing I really want to do is Web Check-in on the way back from Hong Kong.

Speaking of in-flight wireless, I just got this in my inbox: Boeing to Discontinue Connexion by Boeing Service ... =( Ah well.

[Update]

Oops, I'm going to be in Guangzhou/Shun-de for a week with my Dad to be at a cousin's wedding =) I guess I thought I posted about it recently, but now that I look back (here and here), I haven't said anything since July XD Holy cow, time flies... =O